In what has been a busy week for economic data, the Office for National Statistics’ latest labour market overview released on Tuesday caught my attention – revealing marginal drops in job vacancies and unemployment compared to previous periods. Other economic data announcements this week suggest the economy is starting to grow again and some retail confidence may be returning.
It’s too early to say whether these figures are indicative of what’s to come in the long-term. To echo the Chancellor, however, it’s clear there is “more to do” in the immediate term to boost labour market participation and help stimulate sustained growth.
Encouraging more people into employment, particularly across our key service-led sectors, will be essential for meeting the government’s commitment to driving economic growth. It also addresses an important reality; more people employed in meaningful work, as we all know, has a positive impact on wider society as well.
Learnings from the UK’s hospitality sector
One sector in which staff attraction and retention remain barriers to growth is UK hospitality, as recent reports have shown – a survey last year revealed that a concerning 61% of hospitality businesses reported having staff shortages. My conversations with the industry have been equally telling, with some venues struggling to consistently open due to labour shortages.
Many of these challenges are of course not exclusive to the hospitality sector. In fact, a CIPD report from this week found 37% of employers across all sectors are experiencing problems with hard-to-fill vacancies. In a nutshell, we have a skills deficit in the UK and we need to address this.
However, as an industry that is synonymous with service in a lot of people’s minds – and has such a significant challenge with recruitment – exploring some of the challenges faced by UK hospitality and what can be done to combat them may yield some valuable lessons for service-led businesses in other sectors, too.
Overcoming hospitality’s challenges
The first challenge to address is the negative perceptions of working environments. Employees want to feel valued, engaged, and motivated in the place they work – and when they do, business performance is the ultimate beneficiary.
Our research into customer service as a respected profession shows that, despite just 39% of UK consumers agreeing that customer service is seen as a respected career or profession, those who work in service find it a challenging and rewarding career with genuine pathways to develop skills and experience – and more than half of employees and consumers feel that customer service is a useful foundation for other careers.
Changing perceptions of customer service begins at the top, with effective service leadership. In articulating clearly their organisation’s purpose and strategy, and the ways in which employees make a positive contribution to the organisation, business leaders can foster a positive working culture that serves both its employees and customers. Exhibiting simple traits such as approachability, trustworthiness and fairness can go a long way too.
A second concern among hospitality employees and potential recruits centres around a perceived lack of training and onboarding. When it comes to service excellence, equipping staff with the right knowledge and skills to help customers, adapt to different situations, and reach solutions quickly is key.
The government’s proposed reform to the apprenticeship levy could be a welcome step here. Through our manifesto for Building a Service Nation, The Institute is eager to work with policymakers on this to ensure any revisions include service skills. More than this, businesses are increasingly seeing the need to invest in their staff and service offering, ensuring they’re given the support needed to enhance their skillset and elevate their career in hospitality service.
Lastly, prospective employees in hospitality can be concerned about how they will be treated by customers. Our research in tandem with our ongoing Service with Respect campaign shows that there is much to be done to safeguard employees from abuse – in all sectors. Our data suggestions more than a third of service workers have experienced hostility in the last six months, with 20% of those that have taking sick leave as a result.
Increasing visibility of this abuse through better reporting and monitoring of incidents by businesses and regulators is imperative, not just to hold perpetrators to account, but also encourage employees to speak up and prevent repeat offences. Businesses should also look to empower staff with the necessary tools, technologies, and training to respond in the moment.
Service as a profession
At the crux of all of this is building an appreciation for service as a profession.
Services account for 80% of the UK’s GDP, while over 60% of the UK’s workforce is engaged in customer service-related roles. However, too few people view customer service as a viable or strong career path.
In following the advice set out above, organisations can help to reverse this narrative by actively demonstrating the benefits of a professional career in service – in turn, attracting employees of all demographics into service-related roles and, crucially, encouraging them to stay.
Doing so would not only provide a welcome boost to businesses’ productivity and performance, but also contribute to the UK’s economic revival.
Related Posts
